We arrived at the woman’s home in the early afternoon. Getting to it involved walking down narrow alleys rich with the aroma of food being cooked on an open grill mixed with the stench of sewage and refuse. Young men who clearly had nothing better to do on a Tuesday afternoon eyed us suspiciously. Children raced up to get a glimpse of the unusual site of Caucasian visitors. We passed by roosters in cages that were gearing up for the afternoon cock fight. We were in a depressed area of the province of Rizal, part of the sprawling city of Manila in the Philippines, conducting field research with a local company looking for new growth opportunities. The customer we were interviewing was so-called “class E,” with a household income of less than $2 a day. She was an important member of the comm…
Shared from the Harvard Business Review iPad app. Download it on iTunes now!
Kind regards,